Monday, April 9, 2012

Carrie Tollefson debuted outdoors over the weekend at the St. Paul, MN Hamline Invitational. She finished second to Katie McGregor in the 5000 meters, in 16:26.63. Tollefson, after two-three years of relative inactivity due to injury and the birth of her first child, is on the comeback trail, attempting to qualify for the US Olympic Trials in the 5000 meters. USATF has established the qualifying standards for the Trials in this event as such:

"A" standard = 15:35 "B" standard = 15:50

Note that these are the standards to claim a place in the US Trials only. The international Olympic standards for the women's 5000 meters are 15:20 ("A") and 15:30 ("B"). But, first things first. Tollefson will need to register a 15:35 or better to get an automatic slot at the US Trials. She has identified the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford on April 29th as a target race to get to the standard. Carrie's 5000 meter PR is 15:04, set at that same track in 2004.